A Grimm Curse: A Grimm Tales Novella (Volume 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

long to find out.”
    He watched her push the wagon out of the pen and start spreading clean straw down. “I wish I could help.”
    Cynthia called him on the lie. “No you don’t.” She had an itch on her nose that her hands were too filthy to scratch. She raised one eyebrow at him. “Probably the first time you’re grateful for being a frog.”
    He chuckled. “Probably.”
     
     
    She drew a bucket from the courtyard well and scrubbed in the cold water until the pig manure smell had faded. She left her filthy boots by the back door and crept into the kitchen in her stocking feet. It was well past dinnertime and most of the bustle had died down. She rummaged in the icebox for some kind of dinner.
    Two scullery maids were still working, blathering as they kneaded bread for tomorrow’s breakfast. There was no one like the staff of a big manor to be up on the latest gossip.
    “Didn’t she know?” the one with short
,
red hair asked. Cynthia thought her name was Nora.
    The tall dark-skinned girl next to her dashed another handful of flour on the board and continued to pummel her dough. “I guess not. I mean, would you have called the wife of a warlock a thieving toadstool with dung for brains?”
    “How long is the curse going to last?” Nora folded and tucked her dough into loaf shapes, her eyes wide and glued to the dark girl.
    “I don’t think he gave her an instruction manual as he kicked them out the door. Some just fade over time. But with most curses, you have to complete a task before it’s lifted.”
    “Whoa.” Nora blew a stand of hair out of her face as she covered the lo
a
ves with a clean towel. “I guess she’s not going to be redying her hair any time soon.”
    “Sam took her dinner to her room and caught a glimpse of them.” The scullery maid rubbed her face on her shoulder as she finished her own loaves. “He said they’re getting worse. Look like bear paws.”
    Cynthia had heard enough. She balanced the remains of a meat pie and small bottle of milk in her hands and used her hip to open the swinging door.
    She snagged a few logs from next to the sitting room fireplace and tucked them under her arm. Lady Wellington hadn’t noticed yet, but Cynthia was careful never to take a lot. She trod carefully down the stairs, swinging into her room.
    She freed Remi from her pocket and he plunged into his bowl for a soak.
    When the sun went down her room got pretty chilly, even in the summer. She stacked the logs in her fireplace and lit them with her small stash of pilfered matches. Remi flopped out of his makeshift pool and hopped toward the warmth.
    “Don’t get too close, we don’t want crispy frog.”
    He smiled a
t
her and closed his eyes, seeming to fall into a kind of stupor.
    She filled a small kettle from a bucket of water in the corner and hung it over the fireplace. She unwound her hair from her scarf and hung it next to the dirty one. She’d have to wash her only dress tonight if she didn’t want to be covered in pig refuse all day tomorrow.
    “Why do you do that?” Remi asked from beside the fireplace. Cynthia had forgotten about him for a minute. She was used to being alone most of the time.
    “Do what?” She settled on the floor in front of the fire and set a small portion of the meat pie in front of Remi.
    “Cover your hair like that.” His tongue flicked out snagging a morsel.
    “Keeps it clean.” Cynthia shrugged, wondering what he was getting at.
    “No.” He shook his tiny head and watched her out of the corner of his eye. “It’s more than that. You never take it off unless you’re down here. And that boy wanted to see if you were bald . No one’s seen your hair in a long time.”
    Cynthia chewed her meat pie, wondering what to say.
    “It’s just… pretty,” he said.
    An embarrassed frog. Cynthia smiled into her meat pie then sighed.
    “It attracts unwanted attention.”
    “Oh.” Remi sat in silence for a minute. “What are you going to do about